News

His Grace, The Right Reverend Bishop Thomas Joseph of The Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic announces The Fourth Annual Deacons’ Retreat at the Conference Center, Antiochian Village, Friday to Sunday, September 21-23. (The retreat will be held simultaneously with the St. Thekla Pilgrimage and priests and laity are invited and urged to attend those sessions.)

“For the Son of man also came not to be served, but to serve. . . .” (Mark: 10:45)

The featured speaker and retreat master will be the Reverend Dn. Paul Zaharas, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the Metropolis of Denver (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America).

Clergy Symposium Discussion, July 2010Amy Stiffler, Director of Event Services and Inside Sales for Antiochian Village in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, announces that the information about the Seventeenth Biennial Clergy Symposium is available for download.

The Symposium is being held at the Village's Heritage and Learning Center from July 16-20, and is sponsored by the Department of Theological and Pastoral Education. Registration begins at 2:00 PM on Monday afternoon, July 16, 2012.

This year's theme is "Let No One Despise Your Youth," from I Timothy 4:14. The morning addresses will focus on youth related topics and concerns, and will be offered by noted speakers. Fr. Meletios Webber, a monastery abbot, family therapist and author, will address the issues of alcoholism and substance abuse. Bishop Anthony will speak on youth and sexuality, and Metropolitan Savas will speak on spiritual development in youth.

Fr. Peter GillquistThe website for the All Saints Orthodox Church in Bloomington, Indiana, has announced that former Department of Missions and Evangelism Chair Fr. Peter Gillquist (who is retired and attached to All Saints) was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma. Read the full story and post greetings and prayers for Fr. Peter and the Gillquist family on the All Saints website.

***For Immediate Release***

June 14, 2012

The Very Rev. Fr. Peter E. Gillquist has been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma. Fr. Peter survived a diagnosis of stage 3 melanoma in 1999 and another bout in 2010. He, Kh. Marilyn, and family await test results to determine treatment options in the management of this aggressive cancer.

The Gillquists request your prayers as they continue a lifelong journey of faith in the Great Physician, remembering that our communal prayer is for the healing of soul and body, and in the Lord’s time, a Christian ending to life, that is painless, blameless and peaceful.

Fr. Peter retired from 25 years of service to the Antiochian Archdiocese as Director of the Department of Missions and Evangelism in January. He is attached to All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Bloomington, Indiana, where his son, Fr. Peter Jon, serves as pastor.

Houston, TX (IOCC) — The sound of power saws and nail guns mingle with easy laughter and conversation as IOCC Orthodox Action Team volunteers work side by side, building homes and friendships at volunteer home-builds in Houston and Minneapolis. They have traveled from Maryland, Virginia, Georgia and New York to help construct homes for families left homeless by hurricanes in Houston and tornadoes in Minneapolis. Four home building teams have already completed their one-week commitment, with four more summer builds and critical home repairs slated for Minneapolis, Houston, and in Minot, North Dakota, which lost an estimated 1,600 homes to flooding last summer.

The 2012 team builds began in March with a pairing of Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) college students and veterans of previous IOCC builds. The next three builds, including the first ever home built by IOCC volunteers in Minneapolis, also brought together a mix of Orthodox youth with older volunteers.

The Antiochian Archdiocese Department of Youth and Parish Ministries, with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Philip, is conducting a survey to better understand the needs and struggles of our young people today, particularly as it relates to alcohol, marijuana, tobacco and other drugs. The survey is being taken at Parish Life Conferences as well as camps throughout the Antiochian Archdiocese.

Notes Fr. Joseph Purpura, Chair of the Department of Youth, "We are surveying youth in middle and high school. Those that have completed the fifth grade at a minimum will be eligible to participate.The goal of the survey is to help the Department of Youth and the Orthodox Christian Coalition for Healthy Youth (OCCHY) to establish a baseline as well as provide direction for future programs and ministries."

On Saturday May 26, 2012, His Grace Bishop John Abdalah addressed the graduates of St. Tikhon's Seminary at the institution's 70th annual commencement. The website Oca.org notes that "he gave a moving address on human nature and the freedom of mankind to embody Godly principles or to place himself as a stumbling block to his brother." His speech, published in the June 2012 issue of The Word, has something valuable to say to all graduates of the Class of 2012.

MEMORY ETERNAL! Florence Kouri (nee Cohlmia) of St. George Cathedral/Wichita, KS, mother of Honorary Archdiocesan Trustee Dr. Sammy Kouri and Dr. Harry Kouri, reposed this morning, June 21st, at the age of 98. Condolences may be sent to the family at SKouri@cox.net

The schedule of divine services, all of which will served at St. George Cathedral, is as follows:

TRISAGION & FUNERAL on Sunday, June 24th at 7:00 PM.

TRISAGION & INTERMENT on Monday, June 25th at 11:00 AM. A Meal of Mercy will immediately follow the interment.

The teens of the Diocese of Miami and the Southeast ended up their recent Parish Life Conference saying, "Thank you Bishop Anthony!"

The Diocese teens were blessed to have His Grace Bishop Anthony from the Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest visit them in Fort Lauderdale during their Parish Life Conference starting June 13. Members of teen SOYO joined His Grace for a Teen Workshop on Saturday (6/16). SOYO captured the audio and key points from this workshop as well as the audio and key points from his keynote during the Grand Banquet Saturday evening, and audio from his sermon during Sunday's liturgy.

A historic face-to-face meeting of the Assembly of Bishops committee chairmen was organized by the Secretariat’s Coordinator for Committees, Bishop Maxim, and was held on May 30 at the Metropolia Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, South Bound Brook, NJ, and was hosted by Archbishop Antony. Since much of the work of the Assembly of Bishops falls within the purview of its thirteen committees, the success of these committees is essential for the success of the Assembly as a whole.

A young Syrian family finds refuge from their country's unrest in the humble home of a Lebanese host after fleeing the Syrian town of Tall Kalakh. REUTERS/Omar IbrahimJune 11, 2012

Baltimore, MD (IOCC) — As the conflict in Syria continues to escalate, disrupting the lives of more than one million Syrians, displacing 56,000 people from their homes according to UN estimates, and leaving thousands of families without access to food and urgently needed medical care, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is intensifying its current response efforts to meet the surging humanitarian needs for emergency medical aid, food and basic necessities for Syrian families displaced in their own country.

Working in partnership with the Department of Ecumenical Relations and Development (DERD) at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East (GOPA) in Syria, IOCC is coordinating with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and other local relief partners to reach and distribute aid for the affected families in hard hit regions such as Homs, as well as to provide humanitarian relief to displaced families who have made it to relatively safer areas like Damascus. IOCC and GOPA recently delivered much needed medical supplies such as bandages, surgical gloves, sterilizers, stethoscopes, and surgical kits for distribution to Al-Hosn Hospital in the Homs area, a non-profit hospital affiliated with the Orthodox Church that provides charity care, and to other underequipped hospitals and clinics in the Homs region.

The Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black recently held their Annual Ancient Christianity Conference at Antiochian Village, from May 25-May 27. His Grace Bishop Thomas was a featured guest; audio of the Opening Addresses and Sessions is available on Ancient Faith Radio.

How refreshing it is to have the Lord's shepherds to be so supportive of the Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black.

The 2012 BSMB Annual Ancient Christianity Conference was held at the Antiochian Village 5/25-5/27. The conference is supported by a grant from Christ the Saviour Brotherhood. 75 men, women and children attended the conference. The lectures are available on Ancient Faith Radio.

The Synod of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America will convene their regular Spring meeting on June 8 and 9, at Antiochian Village in Ligonier, PA. In addition, the Archdiocese Board of Trustees, the Antiochian Village Council, and the Order of St. Ignatius' Governing Council are all meeting over the weekend as well.

We ask all of the faithful to pray for our hierarchs, clergy, and lay leaders who will participate in these most important meetings. May they be blessed for the glorification of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, and His Holy Church.

Brookline, MA - June 1, 2012. The North American OCF Office has launched an exciting new program to reach out to incoming first-year Orthodox college students at colleges and universities throughout North America, named The First Forty Days. As its name implies, during the first forty days of the 2012 fall semester, local OCF student leaders and chaplains will work to make personal contact with all new incoming students. They will be given information regarding the OCF chapter on campus and nearby Orthodox parishes. The intent of this program is to foster a personal connection with our students so that young college students will stay connected to Christ and His Church during their years in post-secondary education.

To accomplish this, OCF needs the help of all Orthodox Parishes in North America. In the coming weeks, OCF will be gathering the contact information of all incoming college freshman students in all of the Orthodox parishes across the continent. Each parish is asked to provide the North American OCF Office with some basic information concerning their high school graduates who will be attending college in the Fall on a downloadable spreadsheet, which is available here.

You may have heard that a tornado hit the Antiochian Village Camp and St Thekla Monastery on Friday, June 1st at approximately 5:20 PM. Thanks to our gracious and loving God, the members of our staff were in St Ignatius Church at the time praying the Paraklesis to the Mother of God when the tornado struck. No one was hurt. However there is extensive damage at the camp. We have hundreds of trees down and eighteen of our buildings were impacted by the tornado and tree debris. We have already started the clean up process. We have much work to do to get the camp back in shape. Please keep us in your prayers. We will provide updates as we have more information.

The staff update from June 3 reads:

Thank you for your love and support as we bounce back from the tornado. We have received many offers of help in the clean-up process. Under the advice of our insurance company, at the present time we are NOT accepting volunteer help. We are using professional services as much of the initial work can be quite hazardous. If we get to a point where we can use volunteer help, we will put a call for your assistance. Thank you again for your outpouring of love. We are so thankful to God for our safety and all of the wonderful people who are ready to pitch in.

The 2011 annual report for the Committee for Pastoral Practice is available here. This committee is charged with the important tasks of identifying the different answers the various jurisdictions have given to sacramental and pastoral problems, and for figuring out a way to provide a single answer for all of the Orthodox churches in North America. This includes such issues as how the Church handles marriages, divorces, and the reception of converts. This committee will try to find a resolution that is in accord with the Church's theology and her canonical practice. Ultimately, however, this committee will not make any decisions. Its proposals will be presented to all the bishops of the Assembly, who can then determine the best approach. Of course, some of these issues can only be settled by the Mother Churches, and it is this committee's responsibility to help the Assembly develop recommendations for the expected Great and Holy Synod which will include all Orthodox bishops throughout the world.

In addition, the Committee for Legal Affairs, which is chaired by Bishop Daniel of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, held its initial meeting by conference call on April 25, 2012. The work of the Committee is being facilitated by seventeen judges and lawyers who currently act as consultants. The Committee is scheduled to hold a face to face meeting in Atlanta on July 10, 2012.

Fr. Joseph Purpura, Chairman of the Department of Youth and Parish Ministries for the Antiochian Archdiocese, is alerting high school students to the launching of a new scholarship program sponsored by The Reagan Foundation. The Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Debate Series, which will award $35,000 in scholarship funds to outstanding high school debate students across the nation, will begin in June. The Series is designed to provide an avenue for high school students across the country to develop their civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions as they research, discuss, and engage in public debate. This program is designed to align with and leverage the energy of Election 2012.

The competition will consist of three distinct rounds. First, local debates will take place on high school campuses nationwide between June and September of 2012. School champions will advance to regional championships held in September and October of 2012. Regional championships will be held at university campuses from east to west. Those champions will then be flown to the National Championship at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on October 27, 2012 and compete for $35,000 in scholarship awards.

His Eminence Metropolitan Philip wishes to remind all Lebanese citizens residing in the United States that they must register by December 31, 2012, in order to qualify to vote in the Lebanese 2013 elections. All necessary information can be easily accessed through the website of the Embassy of Lebanon in Washington, D.C.

MAY SHE BE GRANTED PARADISE! Eleven priests and two deacons served with me the Trisagion Prayers and Funeral for Kh. Lilija Veronica Vreeland on Wednesday and Thursday at St. George Church in Kearney, Nebraska. Hundreds of layfolk from all over the diocese and elsewhere filled every available space on the ground-floor and balcony of St. George Church for these divine services and, led by Kearney's very fine chanters, beautifully sang congregational responses at the divine services. May Khouriya Lilija's memory be eternal, and may you and your families be granted long life.

His Grace Bishop Basil writes:

Khouriya Lilija Veronica Vreeland, retired from St. George Church in Kearney, Nebraska, reposed at 1:50PM on Sunday, May 27th after a long and heroic battle with cancer. May she be granted Paradise! Condolences to our brother Fr. Philip and the children and grandchildren.

The schedule of divine services for Khouriya Lilija is as follows:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 30th Visitation at St George Church 5:00-7:00PM Trisagion Prayers of Mercy 7:00PM Reception will follow in the parish fellowship hall. THURSDAY, MAY 31st Funeral at 10:30AM Interment at Kearney Cemetery Mercy Meal will follow in the parish fellowshiop hall.

Please join me in praying a rope for Khouriya Lilija's respose, saying, "O Lord Jesus Christ, grant rest to the soul of Thy departed servant." May her memory be eternal, and may you be granted long life.

The Saint George Orthodox Military Association (SGOMA) has announced the inauguration of the Saint George Catechetical Program. Interested individuals can now support the troops and sailors of the Armed Forces with the gift of carefully selected Orthodox books. Notes the SGOMA website, "It has been a slow and long process but SGOMA has been developing a Catechetical Program for our military to teach our Orthodox Christians the Holy Faith in more detail...this is also a program for inquirers to use to learn the Holy Faith."

In coordination with Light & Life Publishing, SGOMA has assembled two small "libraries"of books which can be donated through the Catechetical Program. The soldiers' and sailors' names have been compiled and approved by Saint George Orthodox Military Association, and SGOMA will be match each "library" to an appropriate recipient. Light & Life will then ship the books to wherever the military member may be serving, either in the United States or overseas.

His Eminence Metropolitan Philip writes to His Eminence Archbishop Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA:

Christ is Risen!

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing into eternal life of His Eminence, Metropolitan CONSTANTINE just two days after celebrating his 40th anniversary in the holy and sacred episcopacy. Please know that the his loss is not only felt among the clergy and faithful of your God-protected archdiocese, but throughout Orthodox America. Having worked with Metropolitan CONSTANTINE in both SCOBA and the Assembly of Bishops over many years, I knew him to be a faithful servant in the vineyard of the Lord. On behalf of our local synod of bishops, and the clergy and faithful of our Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, we express our most sincere condolences to the hierarchy, clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. Be assured that we will remember him in our prayers for the next 40 days.

Praying that his soul is resting with the saints and that his memory be eternal, I remain,

Your Brother in the Risen Lord,

Metropolitan PHILIPArchbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA Consistory Office of Public Relations writes:

Metropolitan Constantine of Blessed Memory: 1936-2012

Dearly Beloved Brother Hierarchs, Clergy and All Orthodox Faithful:

It is with a profound depth of sadness that we hereby inform you of the repose, in the morning of 21 May, 2012 in the 76 year of his earthly pilgrimage, of His Beatitude Metropolitan Constantine, the Ruling Hierarch of the Central Eparchy and the Primate of our Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA.

His Beatitude was stricken with a serious illness just a few weeks ago and was released only three days ago from a local Pittsburgh hospital, which enabled him to participate in the celebration of his 40th anniversary of Archpastoral ministry among the faithful of our Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. This celebration took place at the Dormition of the Mother of God Ukrainian Orthodox Church in McKees Rocks, PA with the presence of his brother Ukrainian Orthodox hierarchs and visiting bishops of other Orthodox jurisdictions, his family from the United States and his beloved spiritual children, the clergy and faithful of the UOC of the USA, South America and Europe.

Spring finally arrived after a long bout of fluctuating weather, represented here by a late, heavy snow in April. The storm was definitely beautiful, yet it presented other problems. As the large, pristine flakes of snow dropped and veiled the monastery in brilliant white, I thought and prayed about the newly installed package of bees, the garden that was half dug, and the enormous rhododendrons I had pruned, still in a preflower stage. Recalling Psalm 148, I trusted that everything would be all right: “frosts and snow” and “all flying and creeping things” praising the Lord together. On a hive check, I pressed my ear against the cold wood and could hear the buzzing of the community within the hive working together to maintain a comfortable temperature. In fact, they were probably warmer than I was as I made my way around the property with a snow shovel attempting to relieve the trees of their unwanted burden. Within a few days the weather was warmer and I returned to the garden to plant lettuce, corn, carrots, onions, herbs, and sunflowers. Some soil waits, prepared for the planting of the tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, peas and company in June.....

Recently, the public discussion about marriage and about the propriety of its redefinition has once again become prominent. It is a discussion that is certain to continue for a long time yet. In light of this, the Assembly reaffirms the ancient and unchanging teaching of the Church and invites the faithful to read the important statement below, issued by the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) in 2003 and as relevant and binding today as when first published.

SCOBA Statement on Moral Crisis in Our Nation

Wednesday, August 13, 2003

As members of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), representing more than 5 million Orthodox Christians in the United States, Canada and Mexico, we are deeply concerned about recent developments regarding “same sex unions.”

The Orthodox Christian teaching on marriage and sexuality, firmly grounded in Holy Scripture, 2000 years of church tradition, and canon law, holds that marriage consists in the conjugal union of a man and a woman, and that authentic marriage is blessed by God as a sacrament of the Church. Neither Scripture nor Holy Tradition blesses or sanctions such a union between persons of the same sex.

Holy Scripture attests that God creates man and woman in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:27-31), that those called to do so might enjoy a conjugal union that ideally leads to procreation. While not every marriage is blessed with the birth of children, every such union exists to create of a man and a woman a new reality of “one flesh.” This can only involve a relationship based on gender complementarity. “God made them male and female… So they are no longer two but one flesh” (Mark 10:6-8).

Photo by Vadim Arslanov[YONKERS, NY / SVOTS COMMUNICATIONS] St. Vladimir's Seminary Chorale delivered a stunning performance of sacred music in the heart of Manhattan on Monday evening, May 7th. With artistic execution and prayerful potency, the singers filled the warm and inviting space of St. Malachy's Chapel with a sound fitting for heaven—and needful on earth.

Through a multi-media presentation titled "ORIENT: Sacred Song and Image" the chorale combined word and image to create an evangelical message that proved to be both spiritually powerful and aesthetically absorbing. The performance employed a variety of iconographic projections and liturgical compositions from the Orthodox Christian tradition, seamlessly matched to create a joyous yet profound experience for concert goers, who listened in rapt attention to the 22-voice chorus and expressed their appreciation to the chorale with a long lasting and standing ovation.

Included in the audience was a special guest, His Grace The Rt. Rev. Nicholas, auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn and Resident Assistant to Metropolitan Philip of the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese.

Matushka Robin Freeman, a staff member in the Advancement Office at the seminary who holds a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, created the concert format and conducted in its premiere at IU's Jacobs School of Music in 2010. She served as one of the concert conductors for the New York City premiere, along with Hierodeacon Herman, lecturer in Liturgical Music and Chapel Choir Director at the seminary.

"Come Receive the Light," the flagship podcast of the Orthodox Christian Network (OCN), is running a series in May about Orthodox parenting. Notes Father Chris Metropulos, OCN's Executive Director, "I don't know about you but I never took a course in parenting either in high school or college but I did learn a great deal from my parents and I must confess I am learning about it every day as I watch our six children and now two grandchildren grow and mature."

The scheduled topics are:

May 4

Speaker: Dr. Philip Mamalakis

Topic: Parenting with a Purpose

This week, we begin our monthly theme of parenting with Dr. Philip Mamalakis. What is the relationship between our parenting and our faith? Dr. Mamalakis reflects on the connection between the Divine Liturgy and our everyday parenting goals, like getting kids to bed on time.

May 11

Speaker: Dr. Nick Yphantides

Topic: Fueling our Kids to Excel

When does our journey of parenting begin? Hear what Orthodox doula Maria Armstrong thinks. Plus, how can we fuel our kids to succeed in life? Dr. Nick Yphantides talks about the connection of food to our children’s physical, mental and even emotional health.

May 18

Speaker: Dr. Allena Barbato

Topic: Self-Expression and Self-Esteem

We continue our month-long look at parenting with Dr. Allena Barbato, who will offer some guidance about children and self-expression. Where should we encourage our kids to express themselves, and where do we draw the line?

The Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) announced today that applications are being received for the position of North American Chaplain. The position is being increased to half-time, and will be held by an Orthodox clergyman who will also have the ability to continue to serve a parish or other ministry.

Fr. Michael Nasser, OCF’s current North American Chaplain, shared his thoughts on this development: “With OCF’s new leadership and with a fast-growing awareness among parents and clergy of how vital this ministry to our students really is, I couldn’t be happier that the next North American Chaplain will have more time to be dedicated to this great work.”

OCF is currently restructuring to better guide and support the hundreds of OCF chapters spread out across North America. The new North American Chaplain will work across all Orthodox jurisdictions, providing resources and assistance to the chaplains who work directly with the students on campus.